The impact of the latest Luis Suarez biting episode was reflected in a surge of viewers for the Uruguay v Italy match on ITV4.

Around 700,000 were watching Uruguay when the incident was mentioned during the bore-draw coverage of England v Costa Rica on ITV1.

The peak figure on ITV4 jumped to 3.6m as the Suarez bite was replayed.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch the latest footage of Suarez appearing to bite Chiellini

Stage 3: Suarez appears to clamp his jaws down and bite Chiellini's shoulder

Not fooling anyone: Suarez holds his teeth after sinking them into the shoulder of Giorgio Chiellini

Young guns: Ross Barkley was among the young talent on show for the viewers back home in England

Fizzled: Roy Hodgson and his England players leave the pitch after their 0-0 draw with Costa Rica

ITV, whose audience figures are always far below the BBC’s when they both cover World Cup finals, can claim to have picked far more entertaining matches in the group stages.

ITV’s 23 matches so far have produced 79 goals compared to the BBC’s 50 from 21 games.

Sepp Blatter’s chances of winning a fifth term as FIFA president next year may not be such a rock-solid certainty, possibly tempting UEFA chief Michel Platini to run against him.

A lot is being read into Jeffrey Webb, CONCACAF president and a strong Blatter ally, twice being given the opportunity in a TV interview to back Blatter and declining to do so.

Not a certainty: Sepp Blatter's bid to win a fifth term as FIFA president may not be as cut and dry as thought, with his close ally and CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb declining two chances to back him in a TV interview

Pele may be in danger of being usurped by tournament top scorer Neymar as the icon of Brazilian football. But the long-time world’s greatest player is still in great demand. So much so that a battle is being waged over whom he accompanies to the World Cup final.

The Brazilian government, FIFA, the Brazil football federation and Pele’s main sponsors, Hublot and the Emirates, are all vying for the honour.

Hot property: Brazil legend Pele's sponsors and football bodies are vying for his company at the World Cup final

HARRY CHANGES AGENT

QPR manager Harry Redknapp has switched his representatives again to team up with Peter Storrie, a close friend and former chief executive with him at West Ham and Portsmouth.

Redknapp left the First Artist agency following an unhappy period in 2012 when he missed out on the England job and left Spurs to link up with Wayne Rooney’s adviser Paul Stretford, who negotiated his QPR deal.

But Redknapp and Stretford parted last April - although their QPR agreement expires in August - with Redknapp’s affairs now looked after by Storrie’s RB & F Enterprises. These include a new commercial deal to be the face of 666Bet, who were offering 1966-1 on England winning the World Cup.

Under new management: QPR's Harry Redknapp's agent is now his friend and former colleague Peter Storrie

Storrie is being assisted on the commercial side by Raps Management, run by Scott Smith, son of Jon, the founder of First Artist. Storrie said: ‘I’ve worked closely with Harry for 18 years and he wanted someone to organise his busy life. He wants to carry on in football management for as long as he can.’

Luis Suarez's bite on Giorgio Chiellini was graphic enough on FIFA’s high-definition coverage of the tournament.

Some games - though not Uruguay v Italy - are being filmed in the even sharper 4K on the Japanese broadcaster NHK. And all Suarez’s teethmarks would be evident in glorious colour if viewed via the 8K ultra HD visual technology being tested by NHK on the Brazil v Chile last 16 match on Saturday that creates an image 16 times the quality of HD.

Ouch: Chiellini attempts to show the bite marks to referee Marco Rodriguez

Roy Hodgson can certainly claim to have talked a good game in Brazil despite his players’ poor show.

Hodgson never ducked the media, holding 17 full press conferences over five weeks, along with 21 newspaper briefings, 12 formal host broadcaster interviews, 30 flash interviews and a question-and-answer session with fans.

Fronting up: Roy Hodgson gave 17 press conferences over five weeks of England's World Cup campaign